• This old railway line made it possible to link the Place Ravezies to the Pointe de Grave in Verdon.

  • When the line closed definitively in 2012, a development project was launched on this SNCF influence by the metropolis.

  • This 3 km route, which runs partly along line C of the tramway towards Blanquefort, is now considered to be a structuring line in the city's cycling scheme.

It is a project "which combines nature and mobility", summarizes the president of Bordeaux Métropole, Alain Anziani.

The green line, which takes over the hold of an old railway line from Place Ravezies to Avenue de la Liberation in Bouscat, via Bruges, was officially inaugurated on Tuesday.

🚴🚶‍♀️ 🏃 Laid out on an old railway line, discover the green line.

It links the districts of @VilleduBouscat and #Bruges, from Place Ravezies to Avenue de la Liberation in Bouscat.


The 3 km welcome joggers, walkers and cyclists.

#BxMetro pic.twitter.com/kfSoODzq4V

- Bordeaux Métropole (@BxMetro) October 5, 2021

Developed since 2019, it has however gradually come into service, and joggers and cyclists have already taken ownership of this 3 km course for months.

"Sunday is the Champs-Elysées here, with everyone who is out for a walk", underlines the mayor of Bouscat Patrick Bobet.

"First link between lines C and D of the tram"

The idea of ​​developing this line, "started when this space was released [in 2012] by the closure of the Bordeaux-Le Verdon line by the SNCF", recalls Bernard Junca, former first deputy at Bouscat.

The metropolis then chaired by Vincent Feltesse launched at the same time its 55,000 hectare project for nature.

It is now "a very precious link between the boulevards and the avenue de la Liberation", assures Bernard Junca, which can be connected in ten minutes by bike, as well as a "first link between lines C and D of the tram ”, adds Patrick Bobet.

"This line is now considered as the structuring line of the city's cycling scheme," assures Elisabeth Fournier, head of the green line project and landscape and nature coordinator in the city, the objective now being to bring the lines together. and join the tram stations.

“Other green line projects, such as the Brazzaligne right bank, should also materialize soon.

The old Bordeaux Saint-Louis-Pointe de Grave line

We walk there, we move around, but we also have fun there, and we learn a host of anecdotes about history and biodiversity. “With the landscaper Valéry Brandela, we worked in sequence,” says Elisabeth Fournier, “and in the spirit of the station we created seven play areas that we called stations. We also wanted to educate about biodiversity all along the route, to show that there we have hare, there elegant goldfinch… It's a green frame. "

Formerly the Médoc line, from 1868 it linked Bordeaux Saint-Louis to Macau, then to Verdon-Pointe de Grave from 1902. “But for a long time, there was no locomotive to carry out the last one. part of the journey, and the wagons were pulled by horses, ”says Elisabeth Fournier.

“This line served all of the Médoc to transport wine and cattle first, then it served travelers.

»In 1968, the Saint-Louis station was moved to Ravezies, and it was definitively closed in 2012 to allow the extension of line C of the tramway to Blanquefort.

Trains going to the Verdon take the belt line to Saint-Jean station from now on.

Acts of Resistance

This line is also closely linked to World War II. "There were acts of resistance here in 1943, with a group that derailed a German army convoy on two occasions," said Bernard Junca. “At the end of the war,” adds Patrick Bobet, “the beaver movement was born to meet the need for housing, people came together to build their own homes. We have two such subdivisions along the line. "We also have allotment gardens, and we explain the birth of this movement", adds Elisabeth Fournier.

And the story is far from over.

Because from the start of the project, the idea of ​​creating a new railway stop, at Sainte-Germaine in Bouscat, was born, precisely where the green line ends today.

The stop should open in 2022. By reconnecting this line to an SNCF network, the loop will be closed, so to speak.

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  • Pedestrians

  • Mobility

  • SNCF

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  • Bordeaux